Helmets a hard call

Published 11:40 pm, Monday, August 31, 2009

The New Fairfield High defensive wing had just taken an errant goalie's stick to her head during an early-season girls lacrosse game last spring.

Castaldi struggled to her feet and lined up for the penalty shot she was awarded. With her head spinning, she missed badly on the shot attempt and left the game shortly afterward. A team trainer checked Castaldi and told her that she "probably" suffered a concussion, a feeling she still finds difficult to describe.

"It's hard to explain," said Castaldi, an 18-year-old who graduated in June, capping a four-year scholastic lacrosse career. "You just feel out of it."

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Combined with a second concussion, suffered off the field a few weeks later, Castaldi ended up missing virtually her entire senior season.

"I didn't feel right for about two weeks after," she said. "It was hard to focus and I'd get headaches every time I'd try to do schoolwork."

Lauren was one of seven girls on the New Fairfield girls lacrosse team who suffered concussions last season. That's one reason why Rebels coach Joe Robusto, weighing in on what's become a national debate for high school and college lacrosse, advocates the use of protective headgear for girls.

"I want helmets," said Robusto. "I'd rather have the sound of a click on the head from a helmet and a penalty than a concussion."

It revealed that "high school girls experienced a significantly higher rate of HFE (head, face and eye) injuries than boys, in part because of a lack of protective equipment."

The study also showed that 61 percent of HFE injuries to boys came from player-to-player contact while 87 percent of girls' HFE injuries resulted from stick or ball contact.

Laura Hebert provides the counterpoint to those statistics. Hebert, the President of the Women's Division of U.S. Lacrosse, refuted those arguments online in a recent laxpower.com discussion.

"Certainly, we know that checks which make contact to the head do occur and may lead to concussions," Hebert wrote. "However, research from the USL Sport Science and Safety Committee indicates that the chance of a player -- boy or girl -- getting a concussion is greater in soccer, for example than lacrosse.

"Also, research indicates that concussions occur in men's lacrosse (a helmeted sport) at a higher rate than women's lacrosse."

Indeed, boys suffered concussions from HFE injuries at a rate of 73 percent. The girls' rate was 40 percent. That disparity provides ammunition to anti-helmet advocates, like former Brookfield girls coach Jamie Williams.

"I definitely don't want to see the helmet, but you want the players to be protected," Williams said. "If they feel that the studies will benefit from going to helmets then they should do it, but then again once you go to helmets then the game's going to change. It'll become a more physical game."

Castaldi supports the implementation of headgear, even if rules for the girls game, which designate a safe seven-inch halo around the head, are in place to make the use of helmets superfluous.

"I think it's a really good idea," she said. "Just because we're not allowed to hit like the boys doesn't mean it doesn't happen. A lot of people get hit in the head and don't get concussions, but then there are cases where a lot of people do get concussions.

Danbury coach Lauren Scott contends that teaching new players the proper way to play the game will do more to prevent head injuries.

"I'm strongly against the idea of helmets," said Scott. "I think if kids are taught proper defense and if they're taught the correct way to play, there's no need for helmets. I think it would take away from what the girls game is, which is skill and finesse."

Scott added that she was originally against the introduction of protective eyewear when it was mandated for the girls game by U.S. Lacrosse in 2005, but came around to support it.

"The idea of goggles is foreign to me but I think they're a great addition," she said. "I think if we go to helmets, it's going to go too far."

Only one Hatter suffered a concussion last season, Scott said, "and she fell backwards."

Scott also echoed Hebert's point comparing injuries in lacrosse and soccer.

"I would say there's double and triple the amount of concussions in the game of girls soccer," said Scott, who played both sports. "I think it's an aggressive game."

Castaldi, a three-year soccer player, concedes that soccer might be rougher, but argues that it lacks the equipment which makes lacrosse inherently more dangerous.

"Soccer is more physical, but in a different way," Castaldi said. "You don't have a stick. There's not sticks flying in the air. There's not a hard ball that could hit someone in the head."

Another area that contributes to head injuries is the experience level of the players. And the more experience players get, Scott believes, the less likely that injuries will occur.

"A lot of the times in our area we had a lot of beginners," said Scott, who had eight players on the Danbury varsity last spring who never played the game before. "They're learning as they go. You don't have too many high-level college players who are coming out with these concussions. It's the beginners."

Robusto believes there are two groups at odds over the helmet issue.

"Those who used to play in the girls game: they're the ones that want to keep it as old school and traditional as possible," he said. "And then there's all of us who've seen the injuries."

Robusto concedes that the game could very well be changed if helmets were added. He contends, however, that the bottom line of safety should serve as an acceptable trade-off for those against helmets.

"They're afraid it will be more physical," said Robusto. "But even if it were, it's still going to be safer."